Comets eek out one-point win
June 24, 2008 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Houston Comets News Release
NOTES:
Tina Thompson suffered a skin laceration and a fracture to her left ring finger at 3:04 in the first quarter and did not return to the game until after halftime.
GAME RECAP
SAN ANTONIO--(AP) Tina Thompson hit a 13-foot jumper with 1.2 seconds left to lift the Houston Comets to an 82-81 overtime win over the San Antonio Silver Stars on Tuesday night. Thompson finished with 16 points despite being injured when she was hip-checked by Sophia Young early in the first quarter. Thompson fell into courtside seats and cut the ring finger on her non-shooting hand. X-rays showed a fracture in the tip of that finger, but she returned in the third quarter. Michelle Snow had 17 points and 11 rebounds and Mwadi Mabika added 15 points as the Comets handed the Silver Stars their first defeat at home this season. Becky Hammon led the Silver Stars with 25 points, Ann Wauters had 19 and Sophia Young had 12. San Antonio had a five-game winning streak snapped. It was a tight game from start to finish. The teams were tied 10 times, with 21 lead changes. In overtime, Mabika converted a four-point play to give Houston a 77-73 lead. San Antonio fought back and took the lead when Wauters hit a 9-foot jumper with 3 seconds left to make it 81-80, setting up Thompson's dramatic finish. The teams meet again Thursday night in Houston.
Comets' Next Games:
June 26 at 7:30 p.m. CDT vs. San Antonio Silver Stars (Reliant Arena)
June 28 at 7:30 p.m. CDT vs. Indiana Fever (Reliant Arena)
July 1 at 6:00 p.m. CDT at Connecticut Sun (Mohegan Sun Arena)
Head Coach Karleen Thompson
On the Impact of the Game on the WNBA
"This is the type of game that's going to happen in the WNBA. These types of games are just awesome. The talent is great. That is a great team over there that we just played against. 21 lead changes...it was a hard-fought game. I'm just happy that our players just rallied together and never gave up and went and got this win."
On the 9-0 Run to End the First Half
"It was big for us. We needed to change that momentum and bring it back over here to our locker room. The way we did that was we just had a gut-check time and we had to turn up our defense and that's what did it."
On the Last Play of the Game
"It was âGet Tina the ball!!' We ran a play from out-of-bounds and it was going straight in to Tina and to get Tina open. We got her the ball and that was it! No play is needed for that. Get her the ball. So we ran a play to try and free her up a little bit and we just put the ball in her hands and let her to the rest."
On Tina's Performance Tonight
"That's why she is who she is and has so many things in this league that she has done behind her name. 4 championships...and a champion knows how to find a way to win. She came back out there with a fractured finger...she put that aside for her team and she went out there and played."
Forward Tina Thompson
General Thoughts on the Game
"I thought it was hard-fought. Both teams played really hard and well both offensively and defensively. I know there were several lead changes. You could tell that both teams didn't want to go away...just playing hard and trying to get the win. Fortunately for us, we got it."
On the Finger
"It hurts!"
On the Last Play of the Game
"I was faking a screen to go get Michelle and I think Ann went for it a little bit and Maiga gave me and awesome pass. I just kinda spun back to the baseline hoping nobody was there and I had a clear look at the basket and took a dribble and shot it."
Post-Game with Rebecca Lobo on ESPN - on closing games
"I think we're paying more attention and we're executing. Again, I think our staff is doing a great job of just giving us the things we need to do to get better and to make things happen. We're listening better and paying more attention and we're actually executing."
On the Finger
"I'm going to go back and get a second opinion, but it looked pretty bad. It hurts a little bit, but I was able to come back and play, so I was excited about that."
Center Michelle Snow
On the Game in General
"You gotta be proud of this team...we fought tooth and nail for this win. I thought we adjusted to their physical play...we sucked it up and we kept attacking and we never gave up. We just showed a lot of heart tonight we showed a lot of cohesiveness as a team. We stayed together to get the win."
On Losing Tina in the First Half
"Tina's the anchor of our team...bottom line. That's our go-to player. When you lose a player like that, you have to make up for it in different ways. We started to push the ball and made them pick who to guard. Whoever beats their man back is going to get lay-ups, and that's what we did. Erica got in the paint and just distributed the ball and got lay-ups, and we just took what they gave us instead of trying to force stuff. We just stopped trying to force the ball inside and turning it over and just took what they gave us instead."
On the Overtime Period
"Both teams played well and we went into overtime. There were great plays made on both ends. You saw both teams fighting tooth and nail...you can't take anything away from San Antonio...they played hard and extremely well. We just made more plays in the end."
On Starting 0-5 and Going 5-3 Since
"We didn't give up. We knew that we had a mixture of veterans and young players and we knew it was going to take a minute to gel. We put in a new philosophy...new coaching...but we just decided we had to take ownership of this team, both individually and collectively as a team, and once we did that we knew we had the players and we had the talent. It's just a matter of coming out every night and playing for 40 minutes, or in this case tonight, 45."
Women's National Basketball Association Stories from June 24, 2008
- Sun win impressively over Detroit - Connecticut Sun
- Comets eek out one-point win - Houston Comets
- Lynx regain winning ways - Minnesota Lynx
- Dream Battles High Gas Prices with Ticket Offer - Atlanta Dream
- Indiana's Tamika Catchings Named Inaugural Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award Recipient - WNBA
- Dream Partners With Make-A-Wish Foundation - Atlanta Dream
- Lynx Team Up with Twin Cities Red Cross to Honor Children from Tornado-Ravaged Hugo, Minn. Tonight - Minnesota Lynx
- PGA Of America, WNBA Partner For Game Day Experiences Program - WNBA
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